A. Renee Hunt's Blog, page 80

In The Dark and The Deep by Steve Vernon

     Today is a short story by Steve Vernon.  His story, In The Dark and The Deep is a tale on what is owed the sea.  

     According to Big Jimmy, the ocean contained  a sort of creature, more like the Ferryman!  This is a ghostly tale, written almost like silk across the pages.  I found myself gliding along the open sea in the corvette, looking out for subs.  But what brings you into the story is Jimmy.

     The man, a heedful, insightful man brought life to the story and then... Then, there is the ghostly incident.  I won't give away any of the story, because I detest SPOILERS, but I can tell you this- you will like this short.  
Check it out- it's FREE the last I checked.  Off to another great story!

The Soultakers (The Treemakers Trilogy) by Christina L. Rozelle

     "I can't help but think these kids are never going to be happy and find a place where they'll truly be free!"

     Christina L. Rozelle, the author of the Treemakers Trilogy, is so talented- I can't help but feel engulfed within her stories.  The Soultakers was no different.  Every time they find something peaceful, it's quickly taken from them.  I understand why Serna thought it probably better to have stayed at the factory.  They're again, hopping from one hell to another in the second book.

      The story finds Joy, Jax, and the rest of the gang in Zentao- paradise.  Their escaping Alzanei didn't get them out of harms way though; Zentao holds a secret.  So do the inhabitants.  Some with painful scars, missing appendages and next to no children, Joy is worried about their future and what's to come.  I won't say much more, because I'd then be giving the story, but I can say- these guys can't catch a break for nothing!

     This book is just as exciting and full of horrors as its predecessor.  The story is written just a carefully as The Treemakers and, come on- look at that cover.  It's great and holds to the story.  It's lovely and easy on the eyes.  Check out this book - you won't be sorry, but you will feel sorry for the characters!

The Unforeseen Rescue by Paula V. Hardin

     My second read by Paula V. Hardin, The Unforeseen Rescue is the story of how man rescues girl, mysteriously falls for girl and girl is in even more trouble.  He's entranced and can't help the passion he feels for her.  She hungers for him too...

     The story is about Baptiste,a guy who retired from the military to take care of his sister. Then they're both drawn into a world unlike anything they'd ever imagined and it all stems from Theodora and her need to be rescued after being sold to a madman.

     I liked The Unforeseen Rescue, though it was a bit rushed.  Page 1, Chapter 1 begins with a conversation, between Baptiste and Cyan, about the foolishness of visiting haunted houses to his loved one passing away, which morphs into brief argue on their dead parents and need to protect one another.   I was like, 'Did I miss something?'  

     The entire story is like that; I didn't have time to develop a relationship with Baptiste or Cyan enough to share in their life's misery.  Before I knew it, he was rescuing a woman with ethereal assistance.  I loved the concept and storyline but the push stole the needed clashing of reality against paranormal.  The story was good, but it needed more detail.

     The Unforeseen Rescue was easy to read, but you have to pay attention or get lost.  There were a few errors here and there, but it didn't distract from the story.  If you enjoy adventure, voodoo magic, vampires and romance, this is a story to read!  On to my next adventure!

Interview with author, Lance Tuck of The Paladin Sequence

       I've been in a room with professors and eggheads before and they all worked hard for their titles. My guest, Lance guest is like both but has it much easier- he's got a near photographic memory!   Yet even with this amazing gift,  it took him near ten years to put his phenomenal series together.

     The Paladin Sequence isn't about any one person.  There's a culmination of characters, each unbelievably flawed and set for missions, both known and unknown.  There's harm done to children by those most trusted, murder as training and exorcisms... Lord, the exorcisms!  The characters aren't just people in a book, they come alive and you come to understand them and their tortured backgrounds.  You walk with them and you get down and dirty too!  I enjoyed the books so much, and I believe you will too.

     During my first audio-interview, you will periodically hear a second voice.  That would be Scott Dunn, my contact and reason for my opportunity in speaking to 'the man' himself.  Lance Tuck's a pretty cool dude with a background in demonology, history, theology and more.  You can click on the link below.  Okay, so on with the show!

     Below is the audio-interview, which was more like a cool conversation.  Lance isn't just an author and man with a lot of letters behind his name- he's also a tattoo artist!  You can learn a lot more about him on his team website: The PaladinSequence or contact the team directly at info@thepaladinsequence.com.  Enjoy!

*My apologies- I tried to adjust my mic/voice over Lance's but it I guess that's something I'll have to learn for a later interview.

Forever Lost by Paula Hardin

     Forever Lost by Paula Hardin is the a paranormal romance short story.  We find our first character, Elizabeth crying in a cemetery- evidently so hard she wakes the dead!  Enter Benson, the local vampire.  Having come from a time when men were gentlemen, he finds he can not leave her in distress.

     And the romance begins from there.  The story doesn't kill you with love though- I mean, Benson takes immediately to the human, but they do fall for one another.  Even with Benson's evil mother cop-blocking!  Oh the mother, Emily is a piece of this story that is unbelievably awesome!  Characters like her don't come along very often.  

     For a short story, I enjoyed it and hope to find my second book by Paula just as entertaining!  Also, I really love the cover.  Benson's steely gaze and the plantation-like home he shares with Elizabeth is perfect and fits the brief  description.  I could easily see it, because of that lovely cover.  Okay- on to the next Hardin read!  

The War for the Waking World by Wayne Thomas Batson

Would you be willing to fight for your dreams?
Fifteen-year-old Archer Keaton has the ability to enter and explore his dreams. He is a Dreamtreader, one of three selected from each generation. Their mission: to protect the waking world from the Nightmare Lord who dwells beyond the Slumber Gate. But as Archer’s dreams become more dangerous and threatening, so too does his waking life. 

     This is the conclusion to a three-book journey.  I was given this book for a review by BookLook Bloggers, but I fear my review may not do it any justice.  I haven't a clue as to the other book's actions.  I don't really know Archer either.  In a way, it was wrong to have this one without the entire story, but I read it.

     To me, the book felt like a mixing of an original story and Narnia.  There were Christian undertones and a bit of action, all of which I appreciated, but I didn't really feel what I should have for the story, due to coming in on the very ending.  Imagine watching The Battle of the Five Armies (Lord of the Rings) and never viewing the previous five movies.  Or reading the books even!  You'd have a good show, but you'd never truly understand the journey or even the victory because you didn't know the story and the journeys involved. I couldn't become emotionally invested.

     Please don't misunderstand, the War for the Waking World by Wayne Thomas Batson, was an adventure, but not one I'm even concerned with checking out (the previous books) because now I know the ending!
 Onward... towards the next book!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

     I can't begin to tell you how excited I was when I received this book around the time tv began broadcasting the movie trailer.  I was like, "Oh, I've gotta read this- fast!"  So happily, I dived right in around the 23rd of January!  I finished Monday!  Yes- I ran through it!
*Disclaimer:
That will probably never happen again.

     So happily, I waited for the movie- due on February 2nd, so I could do what all readers/reviewer do.  I wanted to compare the movie to the book.  First off, I actually had three comparisons to contend with.  I'd read Pridese and Prejudice years and years ago.  I compared it to  PPZ.  I loved how Seth Grahame-Smith, the author who performed the rewrite of the classic, changed things up.  He managed to keep the fuss and bustle of the Bennett household as well as the vexing of Mr. Darcy towards Lizzy.  BUT it was set up perfectly.

     The long and dreary musings were still there, allowing the story to hold quite a bit to Jane Austen's storyline.  I found myself vexed too, but the addition of the 'dreadfuls' and other scenes made the tale somewhat adventurous.  I have to admit, I found myself sighing with the goings-on of the original book, spiced with in-between battles, then bothered by the airy ramblings of getting married and  and Jane's embarrassing loss of Mr. Bingsley.  It was all necessary to keep with the story and still carried British humor.  BUT I expected more  action!   WhatI didn't expect was Lizzy's imaginations of chopping heads, blackening eyes and exploding heads as gruesomely as a bashed watermelon on the pavement.  And still, it was not much different from the original, making PPZ a tad disappointing.

      My comparison from the zombified edition to the movie may be shared is an entirely different story and may be shared in my personal blog- I don't know.  What I can say is, it was much better than the books.  On to another book! 

Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters

At The End.

     I had to post that first.  I found this book by accident and thought, Oh, this is gonna be good!  Do me a favor- .watch the trailer for a minute.  See why the story caught my eye, then finish reading my book review.  It's cool; I'll wait...      So you watched it, right?  What did you think?  Did it come off as a horrifying story?  Chilling to live in this sort of environment?  Well I did too.  The problem with the book trailer and the actual story is: they're two completely different stories!   Did you see that movie called Bug?  It came out in 2006... If you said 'Yes', then you need read no further.   I was excited when I watched the trailer and absolutely had to get the book.  Iwaited for the cringe.   I waited for the fear and itchy flesh.  I Kept reading and reading, looking for anything that would creep me out... and never read them!  I was mortified, panicked and paralyzed with regret.  I wasted so much time!  Oh- I'm sorry... I was so caught up in my dislike for this book, I never told what the story was about?     Alex and Susan wanted a new place to stay but within their budget.  Instead, they found a wonderful apartment that had everything they wanted- even a small 'bonus' room for Susan's painting.  Sadly, the cost was above their budget, their marriage and later, their sanity.  At least Susan's sanity.  She begins to think the $3,500 a month apartment is haunted, then is more than convince the place is infested with - 'Gasp!' - Bedbugs! 
I will say no more.

     The book is a bomb!  I'd describe the story with adjectives like BORING, and ANTICLIMACTIC and a few choice ones... but I don't curse.  Much.  Ben H. Winters, the author, got me, the same way I got you by saying, the book terrified.  Well, it actually did because I was more than scared of the time I'd wasted when I could have been reading a much better title- though I must say, the ending does surprise!  I thought the old lady was off but not to the point of...  Well, you'll have to check it out if you're interested.    

    The narrative was pretty good and I felt I was going through a bit with her, but it wasn't enough to keep me.  Once I'm caught up in a story that's supposed to go one way, if it goes another, I'm done.  The only reason I got through it so fast is because I quickly realized what was going on.  A movie, okay but predicting a book?  I hated the entire experience of Bedbugs and that's saying a lot because I've read a lot of crap books.  

     Sorry for the trick, but this book tricked me first!Rating:  

Icy Predator, a short story by Wesley Thomas

     I found this short story, via Google+.  Surfing through the thousands of images, I came across the link to Icy Predator, by Wesley Thomas.  His post read:

'You don't like the snow huh?  Well, it's not the snow you need to worry about.  It is what lurks under the snow that is dangerous.'  You can't  tell me you wouldn't have wanted to know what that was about!  So I clicked and found this little gem.

     The story is about a girl getting ready to go to work.  There's been a snow storm and everyone's either home or at work, trapped.  Not many traverse the waist-high coverage, but she does.  But something's there, in the snow.  Something that's hungry for blood.  Hers.  

​     It's a very short tale, but pretty good.  I think it would have made a great novella.  It's not really spooky, unless you're weak in that area, but it's not too shabby.  Check it out.  The story is the author's website, along with lots of other chilling tales.  
Read Icy Predator
Rating:  

The Giver by Lois Lowry

     Here's a story where I compared it to the movie and wasn't disappointed.  Were there significant differences?  Absolutely, but for me, it didn't ruin the story at all.

     The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is about a new world.  One where independent thinking is fine, as long as you follow the rules.  The rules were made to prevent mistakes of the past, like war, pain, jealousy and differences that make one stand out.  Instead, people seem to be happy living in a cookie-cutter world.  But Jonas is different.  He knows there's more and the way they're all living is off.  Things aren't quite right.  So when he's given the job of becoming a Receiver, he takes on the memories of emotions, love, hate, war, peace, animals, LIFE!  No big deal, until he can't stand to keep it to himself.

    This story was beautiful but when I saw the movie, I loved it more.  With both, I can proudly state I grew misty eyed.  It's a lovely story, either way you watch it.  Check out The Giver.   I'm moving on to the next book on my TBR List.  Keep reading!